A Day in the Life…12/17/17

Whew, I definitely should clarify that this is a “weekend” in the life. They only get busier from here. December has been quite the whirlwind of a month and we are still only halfway through. Every year, I sit back and crave the need to enjoy the moment of Christmas, but inevitably my mind is speeding toward January.

This year, I have been much better about living in the moment. I am enjoying every event with minimal stress and I am savoring each delicious bite of sweetness from cookies and treats, because I know they only come around once a year. And, because I have to get back to normal some time. That time will come, it always does.

This is how my weekend began. Ugly sweater Christmas party right here. Can I tell you the truth? I was a little upset that we didn’t get to dress up, I was really looking forward to it. When they said it was ugly sweater, I decided to make the best of it and wear cute shoes anyway. You can’t see my Olaf sweater, but Henry and I are a matching set right here. Hideous. Warm, but hideous.

Saturday, was so much fun. We started out by heading to the theater to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Yep, I am a complete geek. What you don’t know is that I am watching Return of the Jedi as I write this. I am in complete Star Wars nerd mode right now and I’ve pulled my kids right along with me. My 6 year old can’t get enough. He pulled out all of his Star Wars Golden Books tonight and had to read Return of the Jedi because it was on TV.

Then, Saturday night brought my annual ornament exchange. One of my favorite parties of the year. I invite all my friends over and we eat, drink, and have a white elephant ornament exchange. My girls really brought it this year. The ornaments were stunning, I wanted them all. I got this beauty. I love it!

Sunday, of course, brought a bit of clean up and then I had to bake, bake, bake. A friend of mine is hosting a cookie exchange tomorrow and I thought I’d do the most difficult cookie on the planet. The french macaron. I’m definitely not an expert on technique yet, but I’m getting there. They taste mighty fine, I just have to get them to smooth out on the top. 6 dozen macarons and I’m spent. I did manage to get a run in today. All that I accomplished there was to run off the dozens of cookies I ate today.

I am having a hard time getting them to NOT look like a Hershey Kiss. I’ll get there. I feel like the recipe is solid. These are chocolate macarons with chocolate and peppermint buttercream. They are bite sized, because I had to shrink the size in order to get SIX DOZEN done with my sanity intact.

Needless to say, I’m spent. Did I mention we were also able to fit 2 basketball games and 2 birthday parties into this weekend too? Whew, next weekend will be just as busy – I can’t wait!